I’m now 9 days in and it’s been far far harder than I had anticipated!
I’d optimistically thought that the worst would be over after 3-4 days but over a week in and I’m still struggling with the side effects of the morphine withdrawal.
With 24hours of stopping I was suffering the expected symptoms of aches and pains, headaches, flu like symptoms etc but the worst was the agitation and a weird feeling in arms and legs which caused me to shake them continually for hours at a time. A mix of pins and needles, a buzzing feeling etc.
It meant sleep was very difficult and for the first few days I could only sleep when pure exhaustion took over, sometimes grabbing a few hours at most.
Most of these symptoms are now much less severe but the restless legs/arms hasn’t gone, it has subsided a a little which helps but sleep is still difficult albeit I am so tired now that it happens sooner!
A new symptom now is I have little energy and anything I do saps what little I have left. We travelled to Wales last week to visit my folks and within 30mins of setting off I had to hand over driving to MrsG as I was struggling to concentrate.
From all I have read (and once the symptoms kicked in I did the research I ought to have done beforehand!), it seems that the worst should be over anytime soon with symptoms subsiding after 2wks. I hope that this is true as, had I known how bad this would be, I would never have contemplated attempting it!
MrsG discussed options for alleviating some of the many side effects with a local pharmacist and he said I should never have stopped dead even at the low dosage I had reduced to. Instead I should have continued to reduce much more slowly, too late now!
Thankfully, my decision not to leave any Oramorph in the house has meant I can’t cheat, had there been any here I would have given in on day 2/3 without doubt. Indeed I’m not sure I wouldn’t give in now if I could get access to some of the medication. But as it is, I’m not going to go back and ask for a new prescription as I’m sure the worst is behind me.
For the last few days I’ve been feeling very positive and happy so the contrast with my glum disposition today is all the more obvious.